Friends company in Glasgow i can recommend –

http://www.photologue.co.uk

Best: Elbow, SECC last Feb. Being 6 ft from the stage may have helped.

Worst: Being dragged by the misses to see Chris De Burgh, again at the SECC in 92/93 ? Sat there with my arms folded the whole way through.It was PISH ! Blazing row with the misses afterwards for me being a grump.

Worst Support : An Emotional Fish (supporting Simple Minds). Did not recognise a single word the singer mumbled.

So this autotrim thing ?

I assume that means it makes you slimmer and more attractive to the opposite sex without you having to actually get the miles in ?

Where do i sign up ?

Should that not be Nora Bloody ? (November Bravo)

A bit of heat on the nut then the socket trick will probably do the trick.

Had this problem with locking wheel nuts on a friend Pug. Frankly, the locking nuts on a 207 are a horrendous design. Ended up with a mangled alloy and that was a decent garage that finally removed it.

Best tip is to always get tyre fitters to just nip up the nuts and then use your own torque wrench to finish the job. Buzz guns and spiders just result in stretched bolts and future hassle.

Excellent post lads.

Often wondered if there was decent riding in the Ballantrae area.

Planning a coastal trip through Portpatrick this summer with some mates. May need to re-hydrate on the way of course !

Two pages vaguely related to a Ferrari 250 GT California and no one has said it yet.

Ahem….

SAVE FERRIS.

Thank You.

Fantastic thats my sunday night sorted.

Perfect replacement for Top Gear.

SRAM PG 990 Cassette. Problem solved.

Nick 3216, do your pedals fall off regularly ? (Or hubs)

The murder rate in Glasgow is down to one thing in particular. Drugs.

Mainly its one dealer slotting a rival. Very few are innocent decent folk getting killed at random.

That said, knife related murders are worryingly prevalent in the death of under 25’s. Drink being a common factor in those cases.

Got Buzzards, Heron and Kestrels on my local trail about a mile from the house.

The Loch Ken road is hoatching with Red Kites, must have seen 6 the last time i was down it, including one lifting off from the verge with a young rabbit in it’s talons. That was cool.

Did get a frantic call from my daughter once. “DAD, DAD !! THERE IS AN EAGLE IN THE BACK GARDEN AND IT’S FLAPPING ABOUT AND CAN’T GET UP !!”

Turned out to have been a Peregrine falcon having pigeon for lunch. Lad next door works in a wildlife sanctuary and saw it too.

The obvious answer would seem to be to save up of a Cessna 172 and air commute.

Plenty of parking at Heathrow, though the wake turbulence is a right bugger at times !

Or get a jetpack.

I have no useful suggestions otherwise.

My 206 likes strange self fixing intermittant electrical faults.

Also the bearings went in the back axle (trailing arms) at 70k. Utterly impossible to get the trailing arms off to change the bearings. Local garage would not even try after i gave up. Replacement axle scourced from a scrappy.

Oh and take a pal if you go for an axle, they are shockingly heavy.

Talk Talk.

Mark Hollis had a brilliant voice.

Get a copy of “Downhill all the way” by Edward Enfield (Harry’s dad).

A gentle north-south bike journey through France. Just finished re-reading it tonight.

His “Dawdling by the Danube” is excellent too. Will put you right in the mood for a wee tour.

Careful where you step in the workshop. And a real workshop it is too.

Oh and if you ever need a left hand 1975 Campag tipo axle end cap french threaded reverse grooved washer, Al will have one in a drawer and know which drawer too.

Not in it for the money and one of the few people i know who really is totally content at what he does for a living.

Gary M, Too right about the climb up the M77 from B&Q. Also, the logic of it reducing to two lanes at the top of the hill eludes me. It just leads to poor reps in BMW’s having to barge in past the slow traffic !!

Worse though is J1 at Dumbreck. Southbound, the slip road is way too short (even though it was extended) after the loop down to the motorway. Have seen a few close ones there and one heavy shunt as the traffic always slows drastically at the end of the slip road in rush hour conditions.

I just take the train now. Much less stressful.

I did have a slight bit of sticking the first time i removed the cassette from my Pro II. A wee clean up with a file and the freehub was fine.

I then replaced the steel cassette with a PG 990 which really it should have had from the start. The alloy freehub is supposed to be used with a alloy spidered cassette.

Up here in Scotland it’s not cold enough just now for frozen gears. Only -5 so far at night. And only a slight chance of snow tomorrow in the central belt. (Bit colder in the Highlands.)

I can almost see Caldwell Tower from my house. It’s not as lurid these days. Pass it regularly on the road bike and you don’t notice the extension too much.

It does reflect a ridiculous attitude from East Renfrewshire Planning dept. I mean, you could stick something on it made out of brushed stainless steel and glass, knowing fine well that in 200 years the main tower will be the only bit left unchanged.

Very close by is Caldwell house, now that would make an incredible Restoration Man episode. Link below to loads of photos of it.

http://www.drookitagain.co.uk/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=33

There was me expecting an Interceptor FF with a yank engine.

Oh hang on !!

Sump and exhaust (cat ?) most likely to cop it. Fuel tanks being plastic tend just to deform.

Get it up on a 4 poster ramp while your with it to make sure the garage don’t try and stiff you. Any damage will be obvious.

And fit a sump guard before your do it again !

Lifer, let me give a couple of examples of Benefits madness.

Your not fit for work so claim ESA. Your other half does not work but is physically prefectly fit. You can claim for them. They do not have to sign on.

You are disabled, cannot care for yourself and receive High Rate DLA Care. Because of this, your partner can claim Carers Allowance for looking after you. But your partner too is disabled, cannot care for themselves and receives High Rate DLA Care. So you can claim Carers Allowance for looking after them. In other words, two people who cant look after themselves, are perfectly entitled to claim for looking after each other.

And that’s the tip of the iceberg.

Your out on the bike and you need to self-amputate, simple !

Hold right hand pedal in good hand. Place affected limb in front of chainring ( with chain on granny ring) and rotate at speed.

Nice clean cut (well cut anyway).

Anyone who thinks that DLA is for poor souls in Wheelchairs is sadly mistaken.

Yes, some folk are, but the vast majority are “mental health issues” claimants. That includes, drink and drugs cases.

DLA has the piss ripped right out of it.

Well all motorsport should smell of Castrol R.

Oh and whilst on the Dr Who theme, River Song must smell like a “Sweetie”.

Was going to try rain-x this weekend after a drenching last weekend. Typically, it’s now to be dry all weekend.

Use the rain-x on the car all the time, makes a huge difference. Most especially when its light drizzle that smears the screen.

Toothpaste is abrasive but only a little. You can actually polish out scratches on non coated lenses with it.

Take a flying lesson before you go on the big silver bird.

It’s brilliant fun and will make the big plane seem dull and unexciting.

Oh and if the captain is taken ill you can be hero for the day !!

Ah but we could model our road laws on the Isle of Man.

30 MPH in built up areas (quite right too) and unlimited in the countryside ( YEEHARRRRR !!)

The British (English) could hire the Scottish Regiment for a suitable fee. It’s well know that us Scot’s are bloody handy in a good rammie !

And as for The Royal Scottish (Stewart ?) Navy, we are also rather handy at building boats that come in any shade of grey you like. Or we could just hang on to the two sitting at the shipbuilders on the Clyde just now.

IBM subs you can do without.

Only ever ridden through it and been to the loch but it does look very nice.

The link below gives a favourable impression.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/linlithgow/linlithgow/index.html

Crud 2’s here as well. Using the long tail makes life much more pleasant for clubmates. Have riveted on a mudflap at the front as the standard ends are far too narrow.

Always have surgical gloves with me for punctures and as a back up for anyone with poor gloves. That said, i now carry spare gloves (sealskin waterproofs) in the winter months for anyone who needs them. Pal took up my offer of them today after i spotted him blowing on his hands. Call me Mr Popular !

Most of the time i use Gore Mistral Windstopper gloves. 3c and snow showers today gave me no problems.

Oh and Woolie Boolies rock.

Previous Specials have been entertaining. Africa, Vietnam and the south american one for example.

But this one, well i changed channel when it got to the garden party bit.

Boring ! Total lack of new ideas. Very poor effort indeed.

Nice. And a few EEEK moments too.

Get a spare key and attach it under the car. Like to the side of the fuel tank or similar. A poly bag duck taped on will keep it safe.

You will have to crawl under the car to retrieve it but it’s not as bad as walking home !

Specialized All Condition Armadillos. 1500 miles so far on less than perfect Scottish roads and not a single puncture !

Used Bontrager Hardcase before them, tough tyre but not as grippy, got about 3000 miles out of the back one before it wore too thin and had blisters all the way round.

Schwalbe are good too. But liking the Armadillos best of all.

Set up a portable tv in front of you on a stool or something similar.

Just watch the tv and relax. You will find you naturally stay on line if you ride loose to start with.

And never ever brake !

In order to be allowed to do the ring of Steall on the bike you must first pass one test.

You must ride the bike across the wire bridge without using the side ropes.

Only then may you do the rest.

(Hope the wire bridge is still there, not been up there for years).

Will be a M6 bolt, M4 is way puny.

Get an M6 Allen cap screw in iso 12.9. Most industrial ironmongers should have something suitable. Iso 8.8 is not strong enough when your bum is at risk !! Oh and buy two as you will want to replace the other one too.

Or if your feeling flush or a weigh weenie something in Titanium will suit Sir.